Systems and methods for rapid content switching to provide a linear tv experience using streaming content distribution

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for rapid content switching between pieces of content presented in a plurality of stations using streaming content distribution in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment includes processing a portion of a station manifest that includes identifiers for content stations and identifiers for pieces of content associated with content stations, selecting jump points that are associated with specific locations within pieces of content, determining a current content station, playing a portion of a current piece of content associated with the current content station, determining alternative pieces of content using the station manifest, preparing additional content for playback at each of the jump points by preparing alternative pieces of content during playback of the current content, receiving a user instruction during playback, selecting a target jump point based upon the user instruction, and commencing playback of additional content starting from the target jump point.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The current application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/673,177, entitled “Enabling a Linear TVExperience with Unicast Content Distribution Systems”, filed Jul. 18,2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to playback of streaming contentand specifically to rapid content switching between different contentavailable for streaming.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital consumption of audio and video content has proliferated inrecent years. The main drivers include ubiquitous Internet connecteddevices and a variety of content offerings available from services likeNetflix, Amazon and Pandora. Video content includes media such as TVshows, motion pictures, news casts, and user generated content clips.Audio content includes media such as music, news casts, and audio books.Content can also include image data such as digital images. Some methodsof content delivery can be termed Over The Top (OTT) where thedistribution network is not owned by the content distributor (forexample, internet distribution of Netflix content). OTT networks areoften characterized by uncertain, variable network conditions.

Technologies such as adaptive bitrate streaming can help overcomevariations in network properties, such as those posed by OTT networks,and enable uninterrupted playback of content in a way that can competewith consumption of content on tangible media, such as DVD and CD, andwith linear programming, such as cable, terrestrial, and satellite TV.Adaptive bitrate streaming, or adaptive streaming, involves detectingthe present streaming conditions (e.g., the user's network bandwidth andCPU capacity) during playback and adjusting the quality of the streamedmedia accordingly. Typically, the source media is encoded at multiplebit rates and the playback device (or client) switches betweenrequesting different encodings depending on available resources andstreaming conditions. When a playback device commences adaptive bitratestreaming, the playback device typically starts by requesting portionsof media from the lowest bitrate streams (where different bitratestreams are available). As the playback device downloads the requestedmedia, the playback device can measure the available bandwidth and localprocessing resources. In the event that there is additional bandwidthand processing resources available, the playback device can switch tohigher bitrate streams. Current protocols for adaptive bitrate streaminginclude HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) developed by Apple Inc. of Cupertino,Calif., Microsoft Smooth Streaming IIS Media Services extension (MSS)developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., HTTP DynamicStreaming (HDS) developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose,Calif., and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) specified by theMoving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).

The consumption of media on demand enables consumer choice and can freethe consumption habits of users from linear content that is broadcastedat set times, such as by terrestrial, satellite, and cable TV. Despitethe availability of DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) and VOD (Video OnDemand) libraries, which enable the consumption of content at timesconvenient to a user, the actual consumption habits often still favorlinear TV as several recent studies have shown.

The selection from a catalog or menu of recorded content initiallyappears to be the most obvious choice to enable content selection, andDVR (Digital Video Recorder) menus, VOD libraries, and services likeNetflix typically currently provide a user interface that allows forthis selection. When browsing for alternative content options the userinterface typically requires leaving the playback environment, selectinga different piece of content, loading it, buffering until it is ready tostart playback and playing the opening credits until the user can get afirst impression of the content. When the user is looking for asuggestion of alternative content that can be quickly evaluated by theuser, changing channels (surfing) using linear TV is typically a quickand simple experience where pressing a channel up or down button resultsin near-instant switching to display content from the next channel thatcan be evaluated by the user as a consumption option.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods for rapid content switching between pieces ofcontent presented in a plurality of stations using streaming contentdistribution (e.g. unicast streaming) in accordance with embodiments ofthe invention are disclosed. In one embodiment, a process includesprocessing at least a portion of a station manifest using a playbackdevice, where the station manifest includes identifiers for a pluralityof content stations and identifiers for a plurality of pieces ofcontent, where each piece of content is associated with at least onecontent station, selecting a plurality of jump points using the playbackdevice, where each jump point is associated with a specific locationwithin a piece of content, determining a current content station fromthe plurality of content stations using the playback device, playing atleast a portion of a current piece of content associated with thecurrent content station from the plurality of pieces of content usingthe playback device, determining a plurality of alternative pieces ofcontent from the plurality of pieces of content using the stationmanifest using the playback device, preparing additional content forplayback at each of the plurality of jump points by preparingalternative pieces of content during playback of the current piece ofcontent using the playback device, receiving a user instruction duringplayback of the current piece of content using the playback device,selecting a target jump point from the plurality of jump points basedupon the received user instruction using the playback device, andcommencing playback of prepared additional content starting from theselected target jump point using the playback device.

In a further embodiment, the selected target jump point is associatedwith a specific location within an alternative piece of content.

In another embodiment, the selected target jump point is associated witha specific location within the current piece of content.

In a still further embodiment, preparing additional content for playbackincludes buffering at least a portion of each of the plurality ofalternative pieces of content using the playback device.

In still another embodiment, buffering at least a portion of at leastsome of the plurality of alternative pieces of content using theplayback device includes buffering alternative content starting from ajump point in each alternative piece of content.

In a yet further embodiment, the process also includes determining thelikelihood that certain jump points will be selected by a userinstruction and buffering alternative content starting from a jump pointin each alternative piece of content also includes buffering a stream ofthe alternative piece of content whose bitrate is related to thelikelihood a jump point in the alternative piece of content will beselected.

In yet another embodiment, the number of jump points at whichalternative content is buffered and the bitrate of the alternativecontent that is buffered are related to the current available bandwidth.

In a further embodiment again, preparing additional content for playbackalso includes preparing the current piece of content.

In another embodiment again, preparing additional content for playbackincludes downloading at least one content manifest associated with analternative piece of content.

In another additional embodiment, preparing additional content forplayback includes downloading metadata associated with an alternativepiece of content.

In a still yet further embodiment, preparing additional content forplayback includes pre-fetching cryptographic information that can beused to decrypt alternative pieces of content.

In still yet another embodiment, the current piece of content isdetermined based upon the current content station and a current time,and determining a plurality of alternative pieces of content using theplayback device also includes determining a plurality of alternativepieces of content based upon the current content station and the currenttime.

A still further embodiment again also includes generating a userinterface listing at least some of the plurality of content stations andat least one piece of content associated with each listed contentstation using the playback device, and

In still another embodiment again, receiving a user instruction usingthe playback device includes receiving a user instruction via theinteractive user interface that identifies a listed piece of content.

In a still further additional embodiment, the identifiers for aplurality of pieces of content are references to content manifests,where a reference to a content manifest is associated with each piece ofcontent.

In still another additional embodiment, the station manifest alsoincludes a plurality of references to content manifests, where areference to a content manifest is associated with each piece ofcontent.

In a yet further embodiment again, the station manifest also includes aplurality of jump points, where each jump point is associated with aspecific location within a piece of content.

Yet another embodiment again also includes requesting a station manifestfrom a station manifest server using the playback device.

In a yet further additional embodiment, the station manifest isgenerated based a user profile.

In yet another additional embodiment, the station manifest is generatedbased on the current time.

A further additional embodiment again also includes updating theplurality of jump points periodically.

In another additional embodiment again, playing a current piece ofcontent associated with the current content station from the pluralityof pieces of content using the playback device also includes requestingcontent using adaptive bitrate streaming.

In a still yet further embodiment again, the content manifests are in atleast two different formats and come from at least two different contentsources.

In still yet another embodiment again, the user instruction is for astation change and the selected target jump point is within analternative piece of content.

In a still yet further additional embodiment, the user instruction isfor playback from a different point within the current piece of contentand the selected target jump point is within the current piece ofcontent.

In still yet another additional embodiment, a playback device for rapidcontent switching between pieces of content presented in a plurality ofstations using streaming content distribution includes a processor, anetwork interface, and memory including a playback application, wherethe processor is configured by the playback application to process atleast a portion of a station manifest using a playback device, where thestation manifest includes identifiers for a plurality of contentstations and identifiers for a plurality of pieces of content, whereeach piece of content is associated with at least one content station,select a plurality of jump points, where each jump point is associatedwith a specific location within a piece of content, determine a currentcontent station from the plurality of content stations using theplayback device, play at least a portion of a current piece of contentassociated with the current content station from the plurality of piecesof content using the playback device, determine a plurality ofalternative pieces of content from the plurality of pieces of contentusing the station manifest using the playback device, prepare additionalcontent for playback at each of the plurality of jump points bypreparing alternative pieces of content during playback of the currentpiece of content using the playback device, receive a user instructionduring playback of the current piece of content using the playbackdevice, select a target jump point from the plurality of jump pointsbased upon the received user instruction using the playback device, andcommence playback of prepared additional content starting from theselected target jump point using the playback device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for content playback that includes rapidcontent switching in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates a playback device for playing contentand rapid content switching in accordance with embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates the contents of a station manifest inaccordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process for converting a websiteinto a video content source in accordance with embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process for rapid contentswitching in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 conceptually illustrates content stations and buffered amounts ofcontent at various jump points in accordance with embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a process for rapid contentswitching with specific types of user instructions in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram illustrating a process for rapid contentswitching in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface showing content stations with visualindicators of buffered alternative content in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings, systems and methods for rapid contentswitching to provide a linear TV experience using streaming contentdistribution in accordance with embodiments of the invention aredisclosed. As discussed further above, changing channels (or surfing)with a linear TV source (such as broadcast, satellite, or cable TV) istypically a quick and simple experience that is not replicated in manystreaming or OTT-based services. In many embodiments of the invention,servers, content and playback devices in a unicast content streamingsystem, such as those delivering Video on Demand (VOD) content, areconfigured to provide a rapid content switching experience similar tochannel surfing on linear TV (e.g. multicast content systems).

In different embodiments of the invention, various technologies can beutilized for content delivery. Many embodiments of the invention canutilize adaptive bitrate technologies as a transport mechanism todeliver content. In other embodiments, video streaming techniques may beutilized that assume a fixed/guaranteed bandwidth and/or apply othertechniques to assure QoS (Quality of Service). In several embodiments,content is delivered over an Over the Top (OTT) network, while in otherembodiments the networks have other types of ownership structures and/orare characterized by different variances in network conditions. Videocontent can typically be segmented into “chunks” as a unit forreferencing portions of the content and transferring the content. Forexample, in adaptive bitrate streaming, alternative chunks of the samevisual content portion can be stored as chunks in different qualityrepresentations with different data sizes. The chunks are typicallyformatted to allow switching between different bitrates. Typically a fewseconds in length (but not always limited as such), they can beseamlessly played after preceding chunks of the same content even if thebitrate used to compress the two chunks is different. A playback devicecan adapt to the highest possible quality that plays back withoutinterruption or degradation given the available resources. Chunks may beactual file fragments, indexed locations of a larger file, or may beprepared just in time during the request of a chunk. Chunks may beapplied to the ISO file format, an MPEG transport stream or othercontainer formats that contain media compressed in different codecs suchas MPEG-2, AVC/H.264 or HEVC. In various video standards, chunks mayalso be called segments or fragments. In further embodiments, static webpages are prepared as video content for similar delivery as streamingvideo.

The channel surfing experience can be enabled by providing a user with alist of stations (i.e. channels) with associated content and allowing auser to switch between the stations. In many embodiments of theinvention, a station (or channel) can be understood as a collection ofcontent that is ordered with a playback sequence. Similar to broadcastTV, where a station is typically broadcasted as a single TV channel witha dedicated transmission frequency (e.g., Fox News), in many embodimentsof the invention, digital content over an OTT network that is deliveredto an individual user can be presented to the user in a way similar to aTV channel and can be changed similar to channel surfing betweenbroadcast TV stations. In different embodiments of the invention, theset of stations available to a user may be common to all users or may betargeted to individual users, e.g., by being defined by a user or herdetermined preferences. In several embodiments, a playback deviceobtains a station manifest describing stations and their associatedcontent. A user can select from content in different ways such as, butnot limited to, using an interactive interface displaying informationfrom the station manifest similar to a linear TV content guide or usingcontrols to switch to the next or previous channel. In additionalembodiments, a station manifest includes locations within the content(i.e., “jump points” as will be discussed further below) from whichplayback can start following a user selection.

A further feature of the channel surfing experience is the ability tochange between stations with minimal time delay. In several embodiments,content is pre-buffered and playback is prepared for stations other thanthe station that is currently being played back so that when a userswitches to that station, playback can begin immediately. As discussedabove, content is prepared in chunks for the purpose of enabling dynamicbitrate adjustments in many adaptive bitrate streaming systems. In manyembodiments of the invention, chunks are downloaded not only fromcontent in the current station, but also from content in neighboringstations (i.e., stations adjacent to the current station in the stationline-up or ordering of stations). Several adjacent channels are bufferedsuch that after repeated channel changes requested by a user, content inthe selected channel is available for immediate playback. Buffering forplayback is not limited only to media data, but playback of alternativecontent can also be prepared by pre-fetching other information such as,but not limited to, metadata used to present the station, contentmanifests, and digital rights management (DRM) licenses andcryptographic information (e.g. decryption keys). This can allow for animmediate switching between pieces of content that is faster than manycurrent linear TV channel change times of between 2 to 4.8 seconds.Compared to linear TV, the decoder in the playback device need not waitfor another I frame in an adjacent station because the content isalready pre-buffered and can resume more rapidly, e.g., from thebeginning of a chunk that starts with an I frame. Compared to starting anew alternative bitrate streaming session, all steps to enable immediateplayback have been executed and relevant data has been downloaded. Theseprepared transitions between pieces of content or to different pointswithin one piece of content, referred to here as “rapid switching,” canbe distinguished from the adaptive switching between versions of thesame content encoded at different bitrates that is the core concept ofadaptive bitrate streaming systems.

In several embodiments of the invention, pieces of alternative contentin other stations are not buffered continuously but are buffered atpreviously identified jump points. Similar to location markers orbookmarks, jump points can be used to identify locations in programmingthat are suitable for commencing playback when transitioning from onepiece of content to another piece of content (e.g., user selectschanging stations) or from one point within a piece of the content toanother point (e.g., user selects to play from the beginning or from ascene). A current set of jump points can be updated periodically and canprovide a similar user experience of changing content to bufferingcontent continuously.

Systems and methods for rapid content switching in accordance withembodiments of the invention are discussed below.

System Architecture

A system for content playback that includes rapid content switching inaccordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1.The system 160 includes a number of different types of playback devices162 that can be any device capable of decoding and playing back content.Content may be encoded as sequences of encoded video frames and separatestreams of audio. Content may be encoded in any of a variety of videoencoding formats. When adaptive bitrate streaming is used, content maybe encoded in different resolutions and/or bitrates. Playback devicescan include consumer electronics devices such as TVs, PCs (personalcomputers), cell phones, MP3 players, DVD players, Blu-ray players, settop boxes, video game consoles, PDAs (personal digital assistants), andtablet PCs. The playback devices 162 can communicate with a stationmanifest server 164, content manifest server 166, and/or a content fileserver 168 over a network 170.

A content playback device 162 may retrieve a station manifest from thestation manifest server 164. As will be discussed in greater detailfurther below, a station manifest can include information concerningvarious pieces of content that can be played back by content playbackdevices 162, content stations with which specific pieces of content areassociated, and jump points that are associated with specific playbacklocations within pieces of content. A content playback device 162 mayretrieve a content manifest from a content manifest server 166. As isdiscussed further below, a content manifest can include informationconcerning the location and properties of various content files thatcontain alternative streams of the same content encoded at differentbitrates. A content playback device 162 can retrieve and buffer portionsof a content file associated with a piece of content from a content fileserver 168.

Although specific system architectures for rapid content switching arediscussed above with respect to FIG. 1, system architectures can be usedto implement rapid content switching in any configuration as appropriateto the requirements of a specific application in accordance withembodiments of the invention. In several embodiments, a single servercan provide the features associated with a station manifest server,content manifest server, and/or a content file server. In someembodiments, content is transferred from servers to playback devicesover streaming content distribution networks such as OTT networks.Playback devices in accordance with embodiments of the invention aredescribed below.

Playback Devices

In many embodiments of the invention, a playback device communicateswith one or more servers to request content for playback and performrapid content switching pursuant to user instructions. A playback devicefor playing content and rapid content switching in accordance withembodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. The playbackdevice 180 includes a processor 182, network interface 184, and memory186. The memory includes a playback buffer 188 and a playbackapplication 190. The buffer 188 typically holds portions of content forplayback in the near future. In streaming content distribution systems,such as adaptive bitrate streaming, buffers typically help to overcomevariability in network transmission and are used to store portions ofcontent that the device will likely play back soon. In severalembodiments, the playback application 190 configures the processor 182to perform processes for rapid content switching such as those discussedfurther below. Processes for rapid content switching may includerequesting a station manifest from a station manifest server using thenetwork interface 184 and storing the station manifest in memory 186.The processor may also be configured to generate an interactive userinterface that is displayed to a user.

In several embodiments, the playback device 180 can receive userinstructions from a user via a variety of types of input such as, butnot limited to, a remote control, a keyboard, a touch screen, anon-screen control panel, or an interactive user interface. As will bediscussed further below, user instructions can result in playbackjumping to a jump point. Jump points that can be reached with N userinstructions are pre buffered. For large N, more pre buffering would benecessary but more repeated user instructions are possible whilemaintaining rapid content switching.

User instructions can include “next station” (channel up) and “previousstation” (channel down) to switch between stations similar to the“channel surfing” experience described further above. Other userinstructions can include “next content” (jumping to the end of thecurrent content and starting to play the next content associated withthe station) and “start” (jumping back to the beginning of the currentcontent) within one station. Other playback controls such as pause, fastforward and rewind may also be implemented in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

In many embodiments of the invention, implementation of techniques forrapid content switching can be performed with a local proxy, placing anadditional layer that interprets the stations and the switching betweenthem to determine the current relevant bitrate chunks or portions of thecurrent content and feeds those to the existing player capable ofadaptive streaming. These components can select a suitable bitrate andplay the content as if chunks of a single content file are played and donot require other modifications to support switching between stations.

A playback application can be implemented as a browser plug-in or astand-alone application. In several embodiments, a station lineup isgenerated on a server and transmitted to a playback device, and theplayback device interprets and executes received user instructions suchas station changes. Although a specific architecture for a playbackdevice for rapid content switching is discussed above with respect toFIG. 2, system architectures for playback devices can be used toimplement rapid content switching in any configuration as appropriate tothe requirements of a specific application in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

Jump Points

Content can commence playback from locations within the content referredto as jump points. In linear TV, programs in different stations progressin time along with the station that is currently watched. As such, auser returns to a scene that is later in time when switching back to achannel. In many embodiments of the invention, jump points can be usedto simulate the simultaneous progression in content among differentstations that provide streaming playback. For example, a set of jumppoints associated with content in different stations can be periodicallyupdated to jump points that are further along in their respective piecesof content as time progresses. Similar to the linear TV experience, auser returning to a previously viewed station is presented with adifferent scene in the content as playback commences from a differentjump point. In various embodiments of the invention, a set of jumppoints can be stored by a playback device or a server (e.g., in astation manifest) that includes one or more jump points associated withone or more pieces of content, where each piece of content is associatedwith at least one station. In different embodiments, a set of jumppoints may be downloaded from a server by a playback device or generatedby a playback device.

In several embodiments, jump points are determined in regular intervalsalong a piece of content that can range from a few seconds to severalminutes. Smaller intervals keep different stations synchronized andincrease the appearance of parallel playback among the stations, as inlinear TV. Larger intervals decrease the amount of buffering used toupdate the jump points.

In different embodiments, jump points may also be set to a predetermineddistribution within a piece of content, e.g., one at the very beginning,another 5 minutes in, after the credits are over, one after 15 and 30minutes, and/or none towards the ending so as not to spoil the plot forthe viewer. A jump point for initial content discovery can be about 5minutes after the start of the content, when the opening credits havepassed and the plot provides a good preview.

In many embodiments of the invention, selection of jump points can beimplicitly user generated. For example, scenes during which few stationchanges were requested by users may indicate that those scenes areinteresting and jump points can be placed in or at the commencement ofthose scenes. The system can measure station changes in different wayssuch as, but not limited to, keeping a count of station change requestsby users or calculating the number of users who requested a stationchange in proportion to the total number of users. Jump points can alsobe placed in scenes that appear in trailers or have a high amount ofaction as they may be useful for previewing the piece of content.

Navigation between jump points can be triggered by user interaction andallow to jump to different content pieces or within a content piece.

In several embodiments of the invention, selection of jump pointsconsiders the use of resources by the playback device, the server,and/or the content distribution network/system. In some embodiments,jump points can be unified between users (i.e., use the same set of jumppoints) and/or can be placed in portions of content that can becompressed efficiently or use less data. As the portions of content thatcontain jump points are played more frequently, placing jump points inportions that are lower in bitrate and/or take up less space/data canresult in less data that is transferred, stored, and/or processed by theplayback device, the server, and/or the content distribution network. Invarious embodiments, the update mechanism of jump points can bedetermined based on available bandwidth. More bandwidth may be availabledue to fluctuations in the connectivity of devices, the data rate of thecurrently downloaded/viewed content, and playback of the current stationbeing paused by the user. When more bandwidth is available, jump pointscan be updated more frequently, more stations can be updated, and thequality of the content being buffered can be dynamically increased(e.g., using adaptive bitrate streaming techniques).

Programming Stations

In many embodiments of the invention, stations group content withsimilar features, as in existing TV stations that group content by topicor target audience, e.g., Fox News, Discovery Channel, MTV, BiographyChannel, History Channel, and Nickelodeon. A station lineup (i.e.,listing of stations available for a user to view) in accordance withembodiments of the invention may use the lineup of existing linear TVstations or may be manually edited. In many embodiments, each stationhas a content lineup that identifies pieces of content associated withthe station and scheduled for playback at predetermined times and/or ina predetermined order.

In several embodiments, stations are created individually for each user.In further embodiments, stations are automatically generated from director indirect user input. Direct user input or preferences can be providedthrough a user profile containing characteristics such as, but notlimited to, movie ratings, interests, and/or keywords that may specifytopics such as a genre, actor, or interest area (e.g., travel, New YorkCity, kite surfing, Denzel Washington, history, news, romantic comedytrailers, cartoons, Bugs Bunny). A content lineup for a station can begenerated automatically using the user profile. Stations can be createdfor individual members of a household and can be protected with a PIN(personal identification number) for parental control or privacy.

In many embodiments, indirect user input is automatically collected forstation creation. For example, a user's viewing history can provideindirect user input. Watching a piece of content can be consideredinterest in similar types of content, while switching to another stationcan be considered disinterest in the type of content presented by thestation. Content that the user has already viewed or rejected can bedeemphasized in stations provided to the user. A viewing history can begenerated by a variety of sources including external sources.

Data aggregation and evaluation techniques such as collaborativefiltering can be used to determine preferences of users from informationgathered about other users. For example, the determinations of interestin content discussed above (implicit approval) can be applied to otherusers that have similar preferences. Preferences can also be collectedfrom people close to the user by explicit input or derived from existinginformation in social networks.

In addition or in alternative to the above user preferences, content forstations may be assembled based on popularity and/or availability ofpieces of content or other content properties such as, but not limitedto, ratings from other users, box office results, release date, actors,movie production budget and availability date in content library. Invarious embodiments, stations may also be assembled based on externaldata such as time of day, time of year, trending topics in the news orsocial media, the user's location or user interests derived from otherconsumption habits of the user on other websites or services.

As will be discussed further below, buffer and resource optimizationscan be utilized in assembling content for a station. Any of thetechniques discussed herein for creating a station's content lineup canbe used individually or in combination to fine tune or adjust thecontent lineup. Station manifests and content manifests for the playbackof content in accordance with embodiments of the invention are discussedbelow.

Station Manifest and Content Manifest

A station lineup can be embodied in a file known as a station manifest.A station manifest can be viewed as a multi-dimensional playlist thatlists stations and a time table or schedule of pieces of contentassociated with different stations to be played at scheduled times. Inmany embodiments of the invention, a station manifest includes theavailable stations, content associated with stations, and jump pointsdefining points of access to content. In further embodiments of theinvention, a station manifest can include information such as, but notlimited to: time for the start and expiration of the station manifest,name of and information about each station, links to content manifestsfor each piece of content in each station, type and location for jumppoints for each piece of content in each station, and/or a link to thefollowing station manifest (e.g., for the next time period). In variousembodiments of the invention, a station manifest is downloaded by aplayback device as an initial step to acquire information to populate auser interface (e.g., a programming guide) and/or begin playback ofcontent. In other embodiments the station manifest is created locally onthe playback device. In a simple case, the station manifest includes twostations only—each with a single piece of content, enabling rapidcontent switching between the two pieces of content.

A conceptual illustration of the contents of a station manifest inaccordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3.The illustration includes a hierarchical structure (although ahierarchical structure is not required) that includes a time 204 for thestart and expiration of the station manifest 202 along with subsectionsfor each content station. As will be discussed further below, the timecan be used to check that the information contained within the stationmanifest is current and expire the station manifest. Each station isincluded in the station manifest by including a station identifier 206and, optionally, a station description 207. Pieces of content areassociated with content stations 206 within the manifest by including acontent identifier 208 for each piece of content within the section of acontent station. Information can be provided with the pieces of contentin a manner similar to a program guide for direct broadcast content byincluding content descriptions 209 with the content identifiers 208. Acontent identifier may be accompanied with a link or reference to anassociated content file or content manifest that can be used to accessthe content, e.g., a web address or uniform resource locator (URL) forits location. Alternatively, a content identifier itself may be a linkor reference to a content file or content manifest. The station manifestcan specify a playback start time and a playback end time for each pieceof content. In many embodiments, a playback device is configured suchthat a user instruction to navigate to the content station at a currenttime that is between the playback start time and the playback end timeof a piece of content will cause the playback of that content. Inseveral embodiments, one or more jump points are associated with aspecific piece of content where each jump point references a specifictime or location within the content. Jump points can be stored as jumppoint information that includes a jump point identifier 210 and a timestamp 211 relative to the start of the content (or any other measurementof position within the content). In some embodiments, a playback deviceis configured such that a user instruction to navigate to the contentstation at a current time that is within a range of the time associatedwith the jump point 210 will cause playback of the content from the jumppoint. In certain embodiments, a playback device can generate a stationmanifest 202, determine playback times for specific pieces of content208 and assign jump points 210 to specific times based upon the contentof the manifest and/or any of a variety of criteria including userpreferences, time zone and/or any other factor appropriate to therequirements of a specific application.

In a number of embodiments, a content manifest can be used in rapidcontent switching processes in a manner similar to a “chunk manifest” or“playlist” in certain adaptive bitrate streaming technologies. Forexample HLS uses an m3u8 playlist and DASH uses a file with XMLstructure.

In several embodiments, a content manifest can be accessed by areference within a station manifest and can contain the location of atleast one content file associated with a piece of content and thelocations of multiple content files where each file contains the sameperceivable video content encoded at different bitrates. A contentmanifest can also contain metadata or properties of the content or thecontent files. A content manifest may be a collection of files. Aplayback device can utilize a content manifest to identify and locatewhich of the chunks (or other units/portions of encoded content pursuantto the relevant standard) encoded at different bitrates to request basedupon the present streaming conditions (such as but not limited tonetwork bandwidth and CPU capacity). Locations within the desiredcontent file can be determined using a content manifest associated withthe desired content file. In a number of embodiments, the location of acontent manifest can be found using information contained within aheader of a desired content file (e.g. the content manifest isreferenced in the header). In several embodiments, different formats ofcontent manifests (e.g. from different types of adaptive bitratestreaming systems) can be combined in a station manifest. In someembodiments, a playback device can buffer current content starting froma location found using the content manifest. While specific structuresand contents of a station manifest are described above, any of a varietyof structures and contents of a station manifest can be utilized to playback content in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Sources ofcontent for playback are described below.

Content Sources

Content that is associated with stations in accordance with embodimentsof the invention can be acquired from a variety of sources. Content cancome from existing content producers that provide content for TVstations. Other content sources include can User Generated Content (UGC)that has been uploaded by individuals to websites like YouTube.com orvimeo.com. This content can be reformatted to work in the frameworkdescribed here or can be directly included in a station manifest andbuffered as described here.

Other sources of potential content are freely available collectionsassembled in podcasts or available for download. Examples include TEDvideos, available at www.TED.com.

Trailers for motion picture content are another source of potentialcontent lineup. They are well suited to give an impression of thecontent while the ability to quickly change to another trailer inaccordance with embodiments of the invention is useful to quicklyevaluate a number of content pieces.

Specific televised events (such as sporting events) can be included in astation lineup. For example, a number of parallel events of the OlympicGames or parallel football games can be played in different stations sothey can be used to switch back and forth. In these cases it may bedesirable for jump points to be located closer together as this type ofcontent is similar often closer to live broadcasting, wall clock time isrelevant, and when returning to a station the user will expect differentcontent.

In many embodiments of the invention, content conforms to somecharacteristics, requirements, and/or formatting to avoid resetting orreconfiguring the decoder in a playback device when switching content.For example, content may use a common codec, encryption mechanism, framerate, container format, and/or metadata format. Uniformity of contentmay be governed by a standardization or certification entity. Conversionof websites to be video content sources is discussed below.

Websites as Video Content Sources

Websites can be converted into an image, formatted into a video stream,and delivered to a video display system such as a rapid contentswitching system or other video distribution systems such as IPTV(Internet Protocol Television) or cable TV. This conversion from abrowser screen shot to a video stream in accordance with embodiments ofthe invention is in particular applicable to websites that containmostly static information and no relevant video or audio content.Websites that contain real time information should be updated accordingto the frequency that their information changes.

A process for converting a website into a video content source inaccordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 4.The content of the website is configured by the user though an interfacethat may be provided on a configuration website, where the user isprovided the ability to enter the content URLs and optionally a username and password. The service may be preconfigured for popularinformation sources such as, but not limited to, weather (where the useronly needs to provide a location by zip code), Facebook and Twitter(where the user provides a username and password) and photo sharing(where the user provides a username, password and selects a name of analbum).

The configuration is stored in a user profile. The system in the backend will access the website in regular intervals and capture (302) thevisual content of the website as an image of the website 303 as it wouldbe displayed in a web browser. The image is then converted (304) into avideo stream composed of frames 305, all of which contain the visualcontent. The resulting video is formatted (306) to be distributed ormade available for a distribution system like adaptive bitratestreaming, cable or IPTV (internet protocol television) and delivered(308) to the individual user in the same fashion as a TV channel or VOD(video on demand) asset, such that the receiving equipment, designed toplay video content, does not require any modification to display thewebsite but is actually receiving and decoding video while displayingthe contents of a webpage. The video can also be utilized in the systemsproviding for playback of content with rapid content switching asdescribed here in accordance with embodiments of the invention.Processes for rapid content switching in accordance with embodiments ofthe invention are discussed below.

Processes for Rapid Content Switching

In many embodiments of the invention, a playback device performs aprocess for rapid content switching to provide a user with a linear TVexperience using streaming content distribution. A process performed onthe playback device for rapid content switching in accordance withembodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 5.

The process 400 includes processing (402) at least a portion of astation manifest. The station manifest may be generated by the playbackdevice, received from a server, or provided by another source. Asdiscussed further above, a station manifest can include a list ofstations available for a user to view. Stations may be listed as stationidentifiers and station descriptions. The station manifest can alsoinclude content identifiers, content descriptions and/or references topieces of content associated with the stations as well as the scheduledviewing time assigned to each piece of content. In several embodiments,the station manifest includes a link to a content manifest for eachpiece of content. In some embodiments, content identifiers are links tocontent manifests. A set of available jump points may be included in thestation manifest, may be downloaded from another server, or may begenerated by the playback device.

The process can include generating (403) a user interface that displaysinformation from the station manifest such as, but not limited to, astation lineup of stations available to the user to view (e.g. usingstation identifiers and station descriptions), the content showing oneach station (e.g. using content identifiers and content descriptions),and the time slots associated with each piece of content.

At least a portion of a current piece of content is played back (404).Content playback may utilize a content manifest in the station manifest.For example, in adaptive bitrate streaming systems, a content manifestcontains information including the bitrates and locations of alternativestreams of the content. The current piece of content is designated“current content.” The current content may be predetermined (e.g., bydevice settings or user preferences or reverting to last content playedby the device) or may be selected by the user (e.g., via the userinterface), and may be determined based on the current time and contentthat is scheduled for playback at the current time. The “current contentstation” is the station with which the current piece of content isassociated.

The process determines (406) alternative content. “Alternative content”(or “alternative pieces of content”) is content different from thecontent the user is currently watching (current content) and that isaccessible using the station manifest. It may be content that is in atleast some of the stations other than the station the user is currentlywatching. It may also include content in the current content stationscheduled for playback at a different time than the content that iscurrently playing, which is within the same piece of content or adifferent piece of content in the current content station. In manyembodiments of the invention, alternative content includes content inone or more stations that are adjacent to the current station in thestation lineup and that is scheduled to play back at the current time.For example, alternative content can be in the two stations higher andthe two stations lower than the current station. Alternative content canbe determined using station identifiers and content identifiers from thestation manifest, e.g., by determining neighboring stations with stationidentifiers close to the current content station and identifying thecontent identifier of content associated with each station for playbackat a particular time.

While current content is being played back, the process prepares (408)additional content for playback at selected jump points. The set of jumppoints at which content is prepared can be determined or selected fromthe available jump points based on factors such as, but not limited to,the current time (selecting jump points close to the current time),current station (selecting jump points in content in stations adjacentto the current station), and available resources such as bandwidth(determining how many jump points to buffer or bitrate). Additionalcontent that is prepared can be portions of the current content otherthan the portion currently being played and/or alternative content.Preparing alternative pieces of content can include buffering at least aportion of each piece of alternative content. In several embodiments,buffering can start from a jump point in each piece of alternativecontent, e.g., one is close to the current time. The buffering ofalternative content can utilize techniques and optimizations discussedfurther below. In various embodiments, preparing additional contentincludes retrieving (or pre-fetching) information utilized in decodingthe alternative content such as, but not limited to, metadata such asthumbnails, subtitles and content description as well as contentmanifests, and digital rights management (DRM) licenses and/orcryptographic information (e.g. decryption keys). A rapid switch toadditional content can also be prepared for by implementing anotherrender window and another decoding instance for the new content at thetime of switching.

A conceptual illustration of buffered amounts of additional content fordifferent content stations from various jump points in accordance withembodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 6. The grid ofcontent stations shows the station lineup of virtual, customizedstations 802 and associated pieces of content 804 with jump points 808.

Arrows 810 indicate the priorities for buffering with the length of thearrows. Priorities can be set by the likelihood of a request to playback the buffered content. Priority can determine the amount of contentto be buffered, but also the bitrate: higher priority buffers can befilled with a higher bitrate. In many embodiments, the highest priorityis for the current content, i.e., the program that is being watched, asthis is most likely to be played out next. The following priorities arefor neighboring stations and previous and next piece of content as theuser may decide to change stations, skip to the next piece of content orjump to the beginning of the current piece of content to watch from thebeginning.

Referring again to the process illustrated in FIG. 5, a user instructionis received (410). The user instruction can be received while content isbeing played back. The user instruction can be, for example, pressing achannel/station up or down button on a remote or selecting achannel/station from the on-screen user interface. A station changeinstruction may be interpreted as selecting an alternative piece ofcontent in another station. The user instruction can also be forward andbackward to jump to different locations within a piece of content or toa different piece of content in the current station. Other userinstructions include a “replay,” “repeat,” or “play from beginning”instruction that requests playback from a specific point in the currentpiece of content. A target jump point is selected (412) based upon theuser instruction. The target jump point may be in the same piece ofcontent or in an alternative piece of content depending on the type ofuser instruction. Playback is commenced (414) from the selected targetjump point. While a specific process for rapid content switching isdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 5, a variety of processes for rapidcontent switching can be performed in accordance with embodiments of theinvention. The features and actions described above may occur in adifferent order and in sequence or in parallel. The process may beperformed in whole or in part by a playback device with memorycontaining instructions to perform the process.

In several embodiments of the invention, specific user instructions candetermine how playback is commenced following the user instruction. Aprocess for rapid content switching with specific types of userinstructions in accordance with embodiments of the invention isillustrated in FIG. 7.

The process 500 includes loading (502) a station manifest. A set of jumppoints associated with locations in pieces of content that areassociated with stations in the station manifest may be included in thestation manifest, may be stored in a separate file, or generated fromrules applied to the content pieces. A content station can be selected(504) that includes a number of pieces of content scheduled to bepresented at particular times. A piece of content can be selected (506)via a user interface from the pieces of content presented in a contentstation based upon external information such as, but not limited to, thecurrent time. The content may alternatively be predetermined, e.g.,reloading the last station or piece of content being played when thedevice was shut off or automatically selecting content based on a user'spreferences. A playback location within a file containing an encodedcopy of the requested content can be determined (508) using a jump pointhaving an associated time equal to or prior to the current time. Acontent manifest can provide access to a number of content files thatinclude various versions of the requested content at various bitrates.As noted above, the content manifest can also identify files containingadditional tracks of media including audio tracks and/or subtitles. Abitrate appropriate to the streaming conditions is selected (510) fromthe set of available bitrates for the content based on factors such as,but not limited to, bandwidth and device capabilities. Portions of thecontent encoded at the selected bitrate (e.g., chunks in certain videostandards) are downloaded and buffered (512) for playback.

User instructions can be received from a user via a variety of types ofinput such as, but not limited to, a remote control, an on-screencontrol panel, or an interactive user interface. If a user instructionrequests (514) to jump to the start of the current piece of content, theplay position is updated (508) to a jump point that is associated withthe start of the current piece of content. Similar user instructions mayindicate jumping to other jump points within the content such as, butnot limited to, the next scene or back 5 minutes. If a user instructionrequests (516) to jump to the beginning of the next piece of contentwithin the current content station, the current content is updated (506)to the next piece of content and a new play position is determined asthe jump point that is associated with the start of the next piece ofcontent. If a user instruction requests (518) to change to a differentcontent station (e.g., by a channel/station up or down command or byselecting a station via the user interface), the current content stationis updated (504) to the new content station and a new play position isdetermined as the jump point within a piece of content that isassociated with the current time or within a certain range of thecurrent time.

The station manifest can be evaluated at regular intervals to determineif it should be reloaded to keep the station and/or content lineupcurrent. The new station manifest may append to or overlap with theprevious manifest such that information is added to existing stationlineup information and no gaps in information are perceived by the user.The station manifest may expire (520) based upon one or more factorssuch as, but not limited to, the lapse of a set amount of time fromloading the current station manifest or the lack of forward jump pointsin the current station manifest. If there is a determination that thestation manifest has expired, then a new station manifest is loaded(502). While playback continues, if download capacity (i.e., playbackbuffer) of the current content in the desired quality has been exhausted(522) or is close to being exhausted, additional portions of content aredownloaded and placed (512) in the buffer.

Alternative content is determined and buffered (524). In manyembodiments of the invention, alternative content includes content inneighboring stations (adjacent to the current station). In furtherembodiments, the alternative content is buffered from jump points closeto the current time.

When there are available local resources and bandwidth, the set ofavailable jump points can be updated and/or the buffer for storing jumppoints can be increased to allow faster response after repeated userinput. The process can evaluate available local resources and bandwidthand update (526) the current jump points and/or increase the jump pointbuffer. In many embodiments, playback (512) of the current content takesplace concurrently and has precedence over updating the jump points andprefetching content at jump points. If the current content playback doesnot allow for updates of jump points over an extended period of time,the quality or bitrate of the current content may be decreased (e.g. byrequesting a lower bitrate stream) to allow for more available resourcesto update jump points.

While a specific process for rapid content switching with specific typesof user instructions is discussed above with respect to FIG. 7, avariety of processes for rapid content switching can be performed inaccordance with embodiments of the invention. The features and actionsdescribed above may occur in a different order and in sequence or inparallel. The process may be performed in whole or in part by a playbackdevice with memory containing instructions to perform the process.

A timing diagram illustrating a process for rapid content switching inaccordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8.The timing diagram illustrates a sequence of interactions between aplayback device 604, station manifest server 606, content manifestserver 608, and file server 610. The servers 606, 608, and 610 may beseparate devices or any number of the servers may be combined into onedevice. A playback device 604 can be initialized (612) from aninstruction received via a user interface 602 generated by the playbackdevice. The playback device can request and receive (614) a stationmanifest from a station manifest server. The user can indicate selectionof a current piece of content via a user interface or other input method(such as a remote control).

The playback device can request and receive (620) a content manifestassociated with the current content from a content manifest server. Theplayback device can utilize information in the content manifest todetermine an appropriate jump point and chunk in the current contentthat has a desired bitrate determined from current conditions such as,but not limited to, local resources and bandwidth. The playback devicecan request and receive (624) portions (e.g. chunks) of the file andbuffer them for playback. In several embodiments, buffering commencesfrom a jump point determined by a user instruction or the current time.

Using the station manifest, a playback device can also determinealternative content to buffer. The playback device can request andreceive (632) a content manifest associated with the alternative contentfrom a content manifest server. The playback device can utilizeinformation in the content manifest to determine an appropriate contentfile associated with the current content and that has a desired bitratedetermined from current conditions such as, but not limited to, localresources and bandwidth. The playback device can request and receive(636) the appropriate portions (e.g. chunks) of the file and buffer themfor playback. Retrieving a content manifest (632) and portions ofcontent (640) may be repeated when jump points are updated. In severalembodiments, buffering commences from a jump point determined by thecurrent time. In some embodiments of the invention, pieces ofalternative content may be stored on file servers that are not the sameas the servers storing the current content and so there may be more fileservers 610 with which the playback device communicates. In otherembodiments, different pieces of content may be stored on the same fileserver 610. While a timing diagram for a specific process for rapidcontent switching is discussed above with respect to FIG. 8, a varietyof processes for rapid content switching can be performed in accordancewith embodiments of the invention.

Buffering Alternative Content and Visual Indication on a User Interface

As discussed above, buffering alternative content while playing acurrent content can allow for more responsive playback when changing toan alternative content location. In several embodiments of theinvention, the alternative content that is buffered is from a lowerquality or lower bitrate stream than the current content to limit thebandwidth used. In further embodiments, the bitrate for buffering from ajump point is chosen based on the likelihood that the jump point will beselected by a user instruction. For example, a station that is closer tothe current station may be determined to be likely to be chosen by astation change instruction and is buffered at a higher bitrate than astation that is further from the current station. In other embodiments,alternative content at the same or similar bitrate to the currentcontent is buffered.

After a station change, when new content (previously alternativecontent) begins playing, metadata about that content can be displayedsuch as, but not limited to, name and genre of the content, the year andlanguage, user rating and content source. This can provide the user withquick evaluation of the content and relieve the user from noticing areduction in image quality when a lower quality/bitrate stream ofalternative content is buffered and being played back.

In some embodiments of the invention, advertisements (ads) may be usedto generate a revenue stream for the provider of the system and/orcontent. In various embodiments, ads can be displayed under differentconditions. Ads may be pre buffered and displayed, for example, when theplayback buffer is exhausted and the current station cannot yet bedisplayed or the current content is loading too slowly. Ads may also bedisplayed in regular intervals or a predetermined time after a stationor piece of content has been watched. Ads may be targeted to thecontents of the station or the user preferences explicitly provided orimplicitly determined. An advertisement image may be displayed when thecurrent content is paused.

In many embodiments of the invention, a user interface displays thechoice of content available to a user at any given time (including atthe current time) in a grid that shows the station lineup from a stationmanifest and content associated with each station. In some embodiments,alternative content buffered at jump points may be included in this gridto visualize the amount and location of content immediately availablefor playback without additional buffering and delays in playback.

A user interface in accordance with embodiments of the invention isillustrated in FIG. 9. The grid displays at least some of the stations902 available to the user around the station currently playing(indicated by arrow 904) along with an index of time intervals 906 closeto the current time (indicated by a highlighted bar 908). The stationinformation 902 can display a station identifier and/or stationdescription from a station manifest. Pieces of content can be displayedin boxes 910 and 912, indicating start and end times by its alignment tothe time index 906 together with a description of the content. Thecontent identifier and/or content description from the station manifestcan be displayed in the boxes. The current play position is marked atthe current time 908 and the buffer progress of the current content canbe visualized by an indicator bar 914 with length showing the amount ofcontent buffered. Alternative content in other stations is buffered asvisualized by indicator bars 916 at jump points near the current timeand indicator bars 918 at jump points in next pieces of content. Herethe buffer is prepared for two potential user inputs of station up andstation down with decreased buffer size on the second input. The webstation 920 is only buffered at one jump point. Some stations may becontinuously buffered, e.g. those that display web pages 920. The bottomof the interface may include adjustment options 922 and 924 as well as aguide for possible user input 926 and a description of the currentlyselected content 928.

In the embodiment illustrated, as the content is played back only thecontent currently playing continuously advances in time. The otherstations may not continuously move with time passing while playing thecurrent station but remain at the location to be able to play thebuffered alternative content at a jump point whenever a station changeoccurs without having to continuously update the buffer at the jumppoints. After a predetermined time, alternative content on stations thatare not currently playing can advance to a new location and commencebuffering alternative content at a new jump point closer to the currenttime. For stations that are not visible in the grid this update mayoccur more infrequently such as during restart of the player or when thecurrent station is changed to be closer to those stations. Whilespecific user interfaces for viewing content for rapid content switchingare discussed above with respect to FIG. 9, a variety of user interfacesfor rapid content switching can be implemented in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

Buffer Optimization

Buffering a number of jump points may reduce the bandwidth available todownload the current content. It can be useful to reduce the number ofjump points and the bitrate at which they are buffered. In many adaptivebitrate streaming solutions, content is encoded in several differentbitrates in alternative streams so that a lower bitrate is available forbuffering in embodiments of the invention without having to prepare andstore additional content. This tradeoff on the number of jump points tobuffer and the buffer quality can be configured on the client dependingon streaming conditions.

Similarly, buffering a greater number of neighboring stations uses morebandwidth. However, this allows more channel changing operations withina short period of time without getting to a channel that is notpre-buffered for immediate playback.

The cache of a content delivery network (CDN) server can be utilized toprovide efficiencies in buffering content in accordance with embodimentsof the invention. The cache holds content that is requested frequentlyand has the ability to quickly deliver it. By combining the content andjump points of several users, such that they are requested morefrequently at a similar time, the use of this cache can be optimized.

To optimize the cache use, stations (station lineup) and jump points canbe unified to be the same among different users and therefore will berequested more often than other content, because it is buffered even ifit is not watched, i.e. no channel change occurred. On higher level ofoptimizations, new stations can be created that contain content that isalready watched by other users served from the same server so as toencourage the delivery of the same files to several users.

Audience Measurement

Any user input, direct and indirect as well as user behavior may bemonitored and aggregated at the head end. This includes actions such asswitching a channel that can be aggregated and used to determine thepopularity of all sections in the content: high if fewer users changethe station and low if many users switch to another station at thesection of the content. This can be used not only to determine the jumppoints for other users or stations but also to provide feedback to thecontent owners and creators. This does not only apply to the contentpresentation described here but also to other content playback systems.

Although the present invention has been described in certain specificaspects, many additional modifications and variations would be apparentto those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that thepresent invention may be practiced otherwise than specificallydescribed, including various changes in the implementation. Thus,embodiments of the present invention should be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for rapid content switching betweenpieces of content presented in a plurality of stations using streamingcontent distribution, comprising: processing at least a portion of astation manifest using a playback device, where the station manifestcomprises: identifiers for a plurality of content stations; andidentifiers for a plurality of pieces of content, where each piece ofcontent is associated with at least one content station; selecting aplurality of jump points using the playback device, where each jumppoint is associated with a specific location within a piece of content;determining a current content station from the plurality of contentstations using the playback device; playing at least a portion of acurrent piece of content associated with the current content stationfrom the plurality of pieces of content using the playback device;determining a plurality of alternative pieces of content from theplurality of pieces of content using the station manifest using theplayback device; preparing additional content for playback at each ofthe plurality of jump points by preparing alternative pieces of contentduring playback of the current piece of content using the playbackdevice; receiving a user instruction during playback of the currentpiece of content using the playback device; selecting a target jumppoint from the plurality of jump points based upon the received userinstruction using the playback device; and commencing playback ofprepared additional content starting from the selected target jump pointusing the playback device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theselected target jump point is associated with a specific location withinan alternative piece of content.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theselected target jump point is associated with a specific location withinthe current piece of content.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinpreparing additional content for playback comprises buffering at least aportion of each of the plurality of alternative pieces of content usingthe playback device.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein buffering atleast a portion of at least some of the plurality of alternative piecesof content using the playback device comprises buffering alternativecontent starting from a jump point in each alternative piece of content.6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the likelihoodthat certain jump points will be selected by a user instruction andwherein buffering alternative content starting from a jump point in eachalternative piece of content further comprises buffering a stream of thealternative piece of content whose bitrate is related to the likelihooda jump point in the alternative piece of content will be selected. 7.The method of claim 5, wherein the number of jump points at whichalternative content is buffered and the bitrate of the alternativecontent that is buffered are related to the current available bandwidth.8. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content forplayback further comprises preparing the current piece of content. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content for playbackcomprises downloading at least one content manifest associated with analternative piece of content.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinpreparing additional content for playback comprises downloading metadataassociated with an alternative piece of content.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein preparing additional content for playback comprisespre-fetching cryptographic information that can be used to decryptalternative pieces of content.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein thecurrent piece of content is determined based upon the current contentstation and a current time; and wherein determining a plurality ofalternative pieces of content using the playback device furthercomprises determining a plurality of alternative pieces of content basedupon the current content station and the current time.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising generating a user interface listing at leastsome of the plurality of content stations and at least one piece ofcontent associated with each listed content station using the playbackdevice; and wherein receiving a user instruction using the playbackdevice comprises receiving a user instruction via the interactive userinterface that identifies a listed piece of content.
 14. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the identifiers for a plurality of pieces of contentare references to content manifests, where a reference to a contentmanifest is associated with each piece of content.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the station manifest further comprises a plurality ofreferences to content manifests, where a reference to a content manifestis associated with each piece of content.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein the station manifest further comprises a plurality of jumppoints, where each jump point is associated with a specific locationwithin a piece of content.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprisingrequesting a station manifest from a station manifest server using theplayback device.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the stationmanifest is generated based a user profile.
 19. The method of claim 17,wherein the station manifest is generated based on the current time. 20.The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the plurality of jumppoints periodically.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein playing acurrent piece of content associated with the current content stationfrom the plurality of pieces of content using the playback devicefurther comprises requesting content using adaptive bitrate streaming.22. The method of claim 1, wherein the content manifests are in at leasttwo different formats and come from at least two different contentsources.
 23. The method of claim 1, wherein the user instruction is fora station change and the selected target jump point is within analternative piece of content.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein theuser instruction is for playback from a different point within thecurrent piece of content and the selected target jump point is withinthe current piece of content.
 25. A playback device for rapid contentswitching between pieces of content presented in a plurality of stationsusing streaming content distribution, comprising: a processor; a networkinterface; and memory comprising a playback application; wherein theprocessor is configured by the playback application to: process at leasta portion of a station manifest using a playback device, where thestation manifest comprises: identifiers for a plurality of contentstations; and identifiers for a plurality of pieces of content, whereeach piece of content is associated with at least one content station;select a plurality of jump points, where each jump point is associatedwith a specific location within a piece of content; determine a currentcontent station from the plurality of content stations using theplayback device; play at least a portion of a current piece of contentassociated with the current content station from the plurality of piecesof content using the playback device; determine a plurality ofalternative pieces of content from the plurality of pieces of contentusing the station manifest using the playback device; prepare additionalcontent for playback at each of the plurality of jump points bypreparing alternative pieces of content during playback of the currentpiece of content using the playback device; receive a user instructionduring playback of the current piece of content using the playbackdevice; select a target jump point from the plurality of jump pointsbased upon the received user instruction using the playback device; andcommence playback of prepared additional content starting from theselected target jump point using the playback device.